We've discussed keyboard shortcuts to force quit or force quit the front-most application in the past, but if you have no desire to memorize a long keyboard command, this simple trick lets you switch between opening the Force Quit menu and force quitting the active app with one key.

Mac: If you're confronted with the spinning beach ball of death and the application you're using isn't responding, just press Cmd+Opt+Shift+Escape for a few seconds to quit the application in front. You can also press Cmd+Opt+Esc to bring up the Force Quit menu and select the app you want to kill.